What the Future Brings
by UnpredictableWind
Summary: When Minato Namikaze investigates a camp fire, he encounters a dying man who looks strangely familiar. He has no idea that this meeting will not only change his life, but the entire future in unexpected ways. timetravel!fic


I had this story for a few months now but I was hesitant to post this, but here it is. A completely original idea, time travel! *hear my sarcasm*

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters involved in this fanfiction.

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The smoke in the distance was like wisps of mist hanging in the night. A blond haired man in a mask tensed, and with a simple hand gesture, alerted his team that they would take a look. It was too close to Konoha for comfort; that was enough to warrant an investigation. He lead the way, jumping on tree branches and seemingly disappearing and appearing on the next one. They made no sound other than a gentle pat when they reached one branch to the next.

"Report." he said, breaking the silence.

A woman in a hawk mask appeared next to him in an instant.

"A man. Chakra coils are very developed, but he doesn't have a lot of it now," she paused, "There's something else… but I can't get a read on it. It's some sort of chakra shield, sir."

"Chakra shield?"

"I'm not quite sure," she admitted, "I can just feel chakra in the air."

The blond haired man narrowed his eyes behind his mask and pulled out a kunai. Whoever had lit a campfire that big was either stupid, suicidal or very, very confident in his abilities. And judging by the report, this man was probably the latter, especially with some unknown chakra shield which even his shinobi could not decipher.

With a swipe of his hand, they had the clearing surrounded in an instant. He peered from behind a trunk, scanning the area and looking for whoever was the cause of the fire. Instead, he found a dozen bodies scattered across the clearing, their blood smearing the grounds in red. In the middle, the fire had grown smaller, just a flicker in the night. He quickly lit it out with a water jutsu, fearing that other less friendly shinobi would come.

He shifted his attention towards the only man alive in the vicinity. The man, whose hair was uncomfortably similar to his own, had his back against a tree trunk and breathed heavily, his chest heaving in and out. The stranger also wore a large hat with a wide brim which hid his face. He held no weapon either, although he probably couldn't because his left arm had been hacked off and his right was a bloody mess. Gashes and cuts covered his body but the worst wound was on his chest. There was just a large gaping hole where flesh should have been.

He tilted his head up when the blond haired man approached him. They stared at each other for a moment before the dying man began to laugh. He coughed painfully right afterwards and winced.

"Who are you? Are you a Konoha shinobi?" the blond haired man asked carefully.

"You could say that." He pointed to his forehead protector, which laid on the ground right next to him. The blonde haired man picked it up, inspecting the piece of metal. It was a symbol of Konoha.

"How do we know this is not a trap?"

"You don't. But I don't mean any harm, Yellow Flash. I'm a Konoha shinobi. And even if I wasn't, I'm dying anyway."

The Yellow Flash, known to all his friends as Minato Namikaze, hesitated before pulling his mask off, revealing his cerulean eyes. He was famous now so it was not surprising that someone would know him.

"Find out if there's anything suspicious around here." he ordered.

He pulled back the medic of the team, glancing at the man against the tree.

"Can you heal him?" he said to the medic of the team.

However, the dying man waved his hand dismissively, although it was more like a weak lift of his right hand, "You won't be able to close this wound." he said, pointing to his chest, "Don't waste your chakra."

The healer paused, acknowledging the facts. It would be a wasted effort. He could see that the wounds were too heavy to heal because he had already gone past the point of saving. Still, he was obligated to try at least.

"I am a medic. At least let me try."

A soft green glow appeared under the medic's hand as he tried to close the gaping wound. It was useless. It seemed to open itself up again the moment he thought he was actually getting somewhere. Minato watched, but could already see that it wasn't working. After a few minutes of trying, he shook his head.

"He's right. He can not be healed."

Minato nodded, although he was disappointed. He was familiar with death; it came with the responsibilities as a shinobi. It didn't mean that he liked to see people die though. The healer stepped back, before disappearing to join his other team members.

"No matter how hard I try to deny it, I think it is fate that we meet here, Yellow Flash. Come talk to this old man here." he gestured.

Minato sat on the floor right in front of the stranger, crossing his legs. Even though he could not see the man's face, he could tell that the man in front of him was not that old. He was probably just a few years older than himself.

"What happened?" Minato said softly. He still kept his guard. He felt so relaxed in this man's presence that it made him tense.

"Hmph. Iwa-nin attacked me when I was already wounded. I can't believe I'm dying from wounds. I've always thought I would die on the battlefield like a real hero."

"There's no shame in dying from battle wounds."

The other man continued on as if he hadn't heard Minato, looking at the sky in reminiscent for only a moment. Minato could see a flash of cerulean eyes before the other man slumped down again, "Do you believe in time travel?"

Minato looked slightly bewildered at the sudden question, but answered cooly all the same, "Yes."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, we have jutsu for all sorts of techniques. Why wouldn't there be a jutsu for time travel? We just haven't found it yet."

The dying man gazed at him, his hat tilting in Minato's direction, "In the future, I will find it. And that's how you and I meet here."

Minato took in a sharp breath, "Are you claiming to be from the future?"

"Yes." He grinned brightly, a grin so familiar it made him tense, "You're a smart guy. I wish I had your brains instead. Would have saved me a heap of trouble."

"Wha- And you expect me to just believe that just because you say so?"

"I'll let you believe whatever you want, however, I have no reason to lie now. I ain't gonna be a threat to anyone."

Minato nodded sceptically but his mind was racing with possibilities. Time travel! Could someone had really figured out a way to come back to the past? And what happened in the future to use such a jutsu? Was this just an elaborate trap to lower his guard?

Minato frowned as his thoughts took another turn.

"But you're dying. You're not going to be able to change anything here." he said slowly. He could not believe he was going along with this.

The dying man closed his eyes, "You can't change things in the past that easily. The natural world won't allow it. However, the _future_ is something you can change. After all, it hasn't been 'fixed' yet."

"What do you mean? Then why would you come back here?" Minato asked in confusion. He didn't know why he believed this man. He only knew that the other man was familiar and his instincts were telling him not to dismiss him.

"I was too hasty," the man murmured so softly that Minato had to lean close to hear, "I time traveled back in a last ditch effort but I reached a time which was already fixed."

"Fixed?"

"You see, there are many different timelines. However, all these timelines intersect at certain points. These are fixed." He coughed, holding his chest wound and applying pressure on it. He groaned at the pain, but continued, rasping "However, the points which aren't fixed; these are the ones you can change. Except they will all lead up to the intersecting points, get me?" His voice was faint now, his breathing became slower.

"No." Minato answered honestly, wondering in the back of his mind if this was just the talk of a mad man who was on the brink of death. "If they are fixed, then how can you change anything?"

"It doesn't work like that. I told you, the future can be changed."

"I don't understand."

"You will. I reached a time which was fixed. Of course, I was automatically removed by the natural world to a point which wasn't."

Minato considered the implications carefully, but he was still confused. The other man groaned and Minato marvelled at the fact that he was still alive after so long.

"I guess it was a wasted effort." Minato said regretfully.

"Now that's where this gets interesting." the other man's blue eyes gleamed enthusiastically and he nodded, as if he was pleased with himself, "I kidnapped a few children. 12, to be exact."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence.

"You what!?" Minato immediately stood up, searching for children before fixing his gaze at the dying man.

"No worries, they're safe." the dying man said, "But they're from the future so they'll be confused when they wake up. You'll recognise them. Look after 'em, 'kay?" His speech became slurred.

"Wait a min-"

"I wanna rest now." he interrupted, pulling himself down so that his entire body was against the floor and he was looking up at the night sky.

Minato could only watch as the other man seemed to reach out with his remaining arm, as if trying to catch the stars themselves. Now that he wasn't talking with the other man, he was reprimanding himself in his mind for not questioning who the man actually was. However, the other man's hat gave away, revealing his blond hair and his cerulean eyes which were reflected by the moonlight.

Minato gasped, falling to his knees and reaching for the dying man.

"What's your name?" he asked, although he was afraid of the answer.

There was no sound for one heartbreaking moment.

"Naruto," he smiled serenely, "You better look after 'im especially."

Those were his last words.

He looked so peaceful at the moment that Minato didn't want to touch him. However, he gently closed the other man's eyes, reminding himself that this was a stranger and not someone he knew. It was somehow harder than it should have been.

He stood up, shifting his attention to his shinobi. They were looking at something that wasn't there. Minato could now see what had caught their attention. It was only a shimmer, but there a subtle shimmer in the air which wasn't natural at all.

"Is this the shield?" he asked cooly.

"Yes, sir." the woman with hawk mask spoke up.

"How do we get rid of it?"

Before the other woman could reply, the shield appeared for a second before disappearing altogether. Minato blinked.

Twelve children laid on the floor in front of them, appearing as if by magic. They were all unconscious. There was a silence as the shinobi team absorbed the situation, looking at each other in confusion before staring at Minato. Minato chuckled at the absurdity of the situation, running his hand through his hair. Behind the masks, his team were probably even more baffled than him at the turn of events.

The children looked so familiar, like he himself had somehow traveled back to the past to his childhood. His eyes softened, remembering the dying man's words. _You'll recognise them._ These children looked like his own friends and teammates. And-

There he was. Cerulean eyes, blond hair and whiskers on his face. A young boy who looked so much like himself, but also a certain redhead he knew. Minato felt a tightness in his chest as he looked at the boy.

"How are we going to explain this to the hokage?" Minato murmured in disbelief.

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I doubt I will continue this, but let me know what you think about it.


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